Power-actuated typewriter



Sept. 5, 1950 s. PETI'F POWER-ACTUATED TYPEWRITER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 28, 1948 ATTORNEYS? Sept. 5, 1950 v s. B. PETlT 2,52

POWER-IAC'IUATED TYPEWRITER Filed Apxfil 28, 1948 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN I"EN TOR.

5/50/7672 5. Pei/7' B Y M W? Qh A T Tom 5 Y5 Patented Sept. 5, 1950omreo STATES PATENT orrice Stephen tetit fiayonne l l. 3., assignor toHeaven Letters me, New York, N. Y., a corporation of new York Assess-meApril 28, 1948, Serial Ncrzsflsc r earns; (01. new

1 This invention relates to power actuated.- typewriters, and in someaspects has particularly to do With that kind of power typewriter inWhicha record tape having perforation-s selects the type bars to beactuated by suitable operating levers connected. with the individualtyp'e bars to be selectively displaced from their normal; idle positionsinto the path of a' power operated actuator common to all the operatinglevers;

Tape controlled machines or the kind referred to are commonly empio'yed'for the typing of circular letters. The object of duplicating theletters by typing rather than by multigr'aphin'g, m'ime'ographing,heetographing or printing is to produce a letter having the samappearance as one composed and typed for the sole benefit of theaddressee. While the body of the letter can be automatically typed againand again from the perforated record, it is desirable that the addressbe filled in to match the typing of the body of the letter in type,ribbon color, ribbon Wear and evenness of touch. this can be bestaccomplished by manually selecting, but power operating, the type barswhen typing the address. There have been prior proposals for providingmachines capable'of operating upon this desirable principle, but theseproposals have proved abortive for reasons which will be pointed out.

It has been proposed (see Guthrie Patent 1,206,534) to connect theoperating'levers to their respective type bars through. the usual keylevers of a standard typewriter keyboard, and to provide operatinglever" displacing means operated manually by the keys. iJhus, the manualopera tion of a'key would be caused to displace the asso ciatedoperating lever into position to be actuated by'the power actuator. Akey stroke begun manu= ally would be completed under power'operation tomatch the typing in the body of the letter.

A mechanism such as thatpropo'sed Would'have been inoperative. Therecan'be no timed rela-' tion between the operation of the actuator andthe manual operation of a key, The manual displacement of an operatinglever may occur at that-point in an actuator cycle when it is just toolate for the actuator to move the operating lever on the currentactuator strokei If then, the key is not held down-by the operator forat least-a full actuator cycle,no type bar operation will result fromthe operation of the key.

If, on the other hand, the operating lever dis placement occursjusta'trifie' earlier than in the previous example, then two operations ofthe type bar will resultfor a single actuation of the ey unless the keyis released early enough to 2 permit restoration of the operating leverto its normal, ine'iiective position before a full cycle of the actuatorhas been completed. With this kind of mechanism it is impossible for thetypist to operate the; machine successfully, for in some instances theoperating lever must be held dis placed for less than one actuatorcycle, while in" other instances it must beheld displaced for more thanone actuator cycle. Of. course, the typistnever knows Whether alongdepression or a short depression of a key is necessary, and even if hedid, itwvou-ld' be quite impossible to time the operation as required.

According to a later proposal (see Evans Patent 1,769,624); the keys andkey levers were" to be arranged to be used merely as trippers', and thepower supplied by the" actuator was to be transmitted through theoperating levers to the" type bars independently of the key levers. Tapecontrol led" pins at the rear of the operating levers f-c'r' causing thelevers to be selectively displaced by power operated displacingmechanism were tobeduplicated at the forward-ends of the operatinglevers for keyboard" control; and the" power operated displacingmechanism was to be duplicatedalso? With' the proposed-Evans'rria'chinethere would be no danger of failing to produce a type bar actuation" inresponse to a key opei'atiohl but there would be great likelihood ofproducing fe peated operation response" to a single key operation if thekey were held down for just a little longer than the period of anactuator cycle; Atthe' best; much time" and material wouldlbe Wasted inspecially traininga typist iii the use of the machine. The Evans"machine has not gone intb comirierciaruse.

In accordance with the present invention the principle or poweroperating the typebars from the operating levers independently of thekey levers is' adhered to; but the mechanisirifisfim preve'a in suchaway as to assure" that there will be a ower cperatich'or the selec' 't'no 'niatt'e'r how rapidly an op been returnedto noriiial position willbe but one-operation of the 'selc no matter how slowly an operate'd' keybeeirreturnedto normal p0 1 n. p U I To end, a' spring impel displacir'iglei/er is provided eorijuuctionxv h ear: I plating lever, andeach displacing lever" is" normally h in. its retracted or ineffectiveest r; butwith its spring under st ress,- b y a detest; I Each deiea.tran e 2 o era e brack sh key.

- andwhen tripped permits the associated displacing lever to act todisplace the associated operating lever into the path of the actuator.

It is a salient feature of the invention that the movement of theoperating lever by the actuator is utilized to retract the displacinglever and to store in its impelling spring the power which is to be usedin the next displacing operation of that lever. This mode of operationhas two important advantages. One of them is that the force which isutilized for displacing the operating lever is supplied by the poweractuator. The other is that the displacing lever remains displaced untilit is restored by the associated operating lever. There is nopossibility, therefore, of a failure of operation of the desired typebar, no matter how quickly the operated key may have been returned tonormal position.

It is a further feature that the operative connection between a key anda detent is temporarily broken as soon as the associated displacinglever has been tripped. Thus the detent is freed at once for restorationto detaining position and is not retarded by any delay of the typist inreleasing the operated key. There is no possibility, therefore, ofproducing repeated type bar operation in response to a single keyactuation.

The invention has important utility, whether or not provision for tapecontrol is embodied in the machine.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification Fig. l is afragmentary view in side elevation of an illustrative, automatictypewriter embody- 1 ing features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, detail view showing the lower portion of one ofthe key stems;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the illustrative mechanism with thedisplacing lever tripped by the depression of the key and displaced withthe operating lever shifted forward into position to be engaged andoperated b an impending downward stroke of the actuator; and

Fig. 4 is a view of substantially the mechanism shown in Fig. 3 with thekey returned to normal and the other parts shown in the positionsoccupied by them at the conclusion of an effective downward stroke ofthe actuator.

The illustrative machine comprises all of the conventional mechanism ofa standard typewriter with the exception that levers I, which wouldnormally extend forward to the keyboard and constitute the key levers ofthe machine are cut short and connected through slotted, adjustablelinks 2 with operating levers 3. The usual springs IA urge the levers lto their normal positions.

The levers l are connected through slotted bell cranks 4 with therespective type bars 5 of the typewriter. The type bars 5 are mountedupon a pivot wire 6 and are guided in the slots of a type segment of theUnderwood type to swing to a common printing point against a platen I.For illustrative purposes the type action and, in fact, all standardtypewriter parts, may be of the Underwood type.

The operating levers 3 form part of an automatic control mechanism ofthe Hooven type. Each operating lever is formed with a slot '8 in whicha supporting pivot rod 9 is received. The inner, rear ends of the slots8 extend substantially horizontally so that the operating levers can beslid back and forth upon the rod '9. Each operating lever is urgednormally to a rearward or inactive position by a leaf spring Ill which iconstitutes one tooth of a comb II. I l is fixed in a stationary rod [2.

At the rear end of each operating lever 3, there is provided a shiftingor displacing pin I3. Each pin comprises a body portion M which isslidable in a bore formed in a central car of the lever 3, and a lowerreduced, stem portion I6 which is slidable in a bore formed in a lowerear I! of the lever 3. The pin is also includes an upper stem portionwhich is surrounded by a coil spring [8. The coil spring is bearsagainst the upper end of the pin body [3 and extends into a bore formedin an upper ear l9 of the lever 3. The upper end of the spring [8 bearagainst a screw which is threaded into the bore of the upper ear IQ ofthe lever 3.

The comb The lower end of the pin l3 normally bears with light springpressure against a record tape 2| of paper or other suitable material,which has selector perforations formed in it.

When a perforation of the record comes under One of the pins l3, the pinis projected downward through the record and is engaged by a tootheddisplacing drum 22. The drum is made fast upon a shaft 23 which isconstantly rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. Thedisplacing drum acts upon the pin l3 to thrust the lever 3 forward fromits normal, idle position against the resistance of the spring Ill.

The lever 3 has fixed upon it a rigid upstanding part in the form of anarm 24. The arm 24 normally stands clear of an actuator bar 25 whichforms part of an actuator 26. When the operating lever 3 is shiftedforward, however, to carry the arm 24 to the position indicated in dotand dash lines. as 24a in Fig. 1, the arm is located in the path of theactuator bar 25 so that it will be engaged and forced downward by thebar, causing the lever 3 to be rocked in a clockwise direction about thepin 9 as a fulcrum. The lever 3, as it travels downward, exerts a pullthrough the link 2 upon the associated lever i, and thereby causes thetype bar 5 to .be swung to printing position.

The actuator bar 25 is connected rigidly at its ends to arms 2! whichform parts of the actuator, and which are pivotally supported by a shaft28. A pitman 29 is pivotally connected at 39 to one of the arms 21, andat its opposite end is formed with a collar 3! which embraces aneccentric 32 fast on a constantly driven shaft 33. It will be readilyapparent that each revolution of the shaft 33 produces a reciprocationof the actuator 25. So long as no operating lever 3 has been displacedin a forward direction to locate its arm 24 in the path of the actuatorbar 25, the actuator simply reciprocates idly, but as soon as one of thelevers 3 has been displaced to its forward position, an operation ofthat lever is effected in the manner which has already been described,the actuating stroke of the actuator being the down stroke.

As an incident of the clockwise rocking of a lever 3, the tail of thelever is lifted away from the record 2| so that the projected pin I3 iscarried clear of the perforation in the record 2|. The record isadvanced at this time so that the pin when it is again carried downwardby the lever will be caused to rest on top of the record until anotherperforation of the record comes beneath it.

The mechanism thus far described is substantially of conventionalconstruction.

For manually controllin the typing a novel unit 35 is provided in placeof the normal typecured in fixed positions.

g. {writerkeyboard. This unit comprises across bar 36, a frame stirrup31 and connecting brackets '38 between the ends of the frame stirrup 31and the cross :bar 36. The cross bar 36 and the frame stirrup 81 aresecured at their ends to the opposite sides of the machine frame (notshown); The cross bar 36 includes an upper arm 39 formed with numerousslots 39a in which displacing bell crank levers All are pivotallymounted upon a pivot rod 4|. There is a displacing lever M'for each ofthe operating levers 3, and each operating-lever is provided with a pin42 which stands just in front of the upwardly reaching arm 43 of thedisplacing lever.

The-cross bar 36 includes a horizontal arm 44, whichis also providedwith numerous slots 45. In-each slot there is mounted a detent andtripper mechanism for one of the displacing levers it. Each displacinglever includes a forwardly reaching arm 45 at the forward end of whichthere is a laterally extending finger or lug 41. The finger 41 normallyrests upon a shoulder 480i a'detent lever 49.

Each lever 46 is urged clockwise by a tension coil spring 50, the springbeing connected at its upper end to the forwardly reaching arm 45 of thelever and at its lower end to a stationary plate The plate 5l'extendsacross the machine and is connected at its ends by means of screws 52throughspacerblocks 53 to the cross bar 36. r

The detent 69 is rockably mounted upon a pivot rod 54 and isurged-counter-clockwise by a tension coil spring 55. The spring 55- iscom nected at its rear end to the lower end of the detent 4-9 and at itsforward end to a plate 56 which is secured to thebottomof the framestirrup 31. counterclockwise movement of the detent is normally limitedby engagement of'the finger t with a face 57' of the detent, whileclockwise movementof the lever 46- is normally limited by engagementofthe finger 41 with the shoulder 48 ofthe detent. A key actuated tripperis provided for each detent.

The keyboard consists of a multiplicity of keys 58, each having a stem59. All-of the stems 59 of a single row of keys-pass between two platesor bars 60 and SI.

These plates extend from side to side-of the machine and are se- Theplates are formed with mating guides notched for the reception of stems59.

Below the plates 6!! and 61-, the stems of the firstthird and fourthrows are bent to bring them into alignment with the stems oft-he secondrow, and all of the stems have straight portions at their lower ends.The lower ends of the stems 59 are flattened or reduced in width to formstop shoulders 62'. The reduced portions of the stems extend throughslots formed in a plate- 63 that extends from side to side of tionaryplate E315. that extends. across the machine.

'liheslower end of the; each. stem. 5.9; rests; upon a iQIiWfiEdlY; reching a m: of a. bell, crank lever at, fin hlener forming part ofatripperior'an associ ated; detent. Each; bell crank lever -6.-',I. ispivotally mounted upon a pivot rod .68 and is disposed in one of theslots of the arm 45. Each lever 61 also includes an upwardly extendingarm which is pivotally connected through a pin 69 with a pull link it.The pull link it is formed with a notch H, the rear, shouldered face ofwhich normally engages behind a finger E2 of the detent A9. The pulllink 'lil also includes a tail portion '53 which extends for asubstantial distance to the rear of the notch T I; and underneath thefinger 41 of the lever 40.

A tension coil spring 73 is connected at its lower end to the pull linkTil and extendsupwardly and rearwardly, being connected at its upper,rear end to a stationary plate M which extends across the machine, andwhich is supported through brackets #5 from the upper arm 38 of thecross bar 36. The spring 13 urges the pull link Ill upward and rearwardand thus maintains the link at all times in engagement with thefingerli, and the lever 67 at all times in engagement with the stem 59.

When a key 58 is depressed, the associated lever 61 is rocked clockwisea short distance, and pulls the pull link It toward the right (Figs. 1and 3) The pull link ill pulls with it the detent 49, swinging thedetent in a clockwise direction, and withdrawing the supporting shoulder48 from beneath the finger ii? ofthe displacing lever 40. As soon asthisoccurs, the spring acts to swing the displacing lever 43 sharply ina clockwise direction. The arm l3 of the lever ill engages the pin 42 ofthe associated operating lever 3, and shifts the operating lever forwarduntil the lever is arrested by engagement of the rear endof its. slot 8with the supporting pivot pin 9- as inv Fig. 3. This. carries the member24 of. the operatinglever forward from the full line position ofv Fig..l to the position designated 24a in that figure. At the next descent ofthe actuator 26, the actuator bar 2.5 engages the member 26 and drivesitdownward. until the parts have assumed a position like thatillustrated in Fig. 4. This movement of, the operating. lever 3. iseffective through the link 2, the lever l and the bell crank 4 tooperate the associated type barfor printing.

The depression or clockwise rocking of the operating lever 3 performsanother important function. As the pin 42 is carried downward by thelever 3 it engages a sloping cam surface 88 of the lever 46. As. thelever 3 is moved downward under power actuation, therefore, it rocks thelever id counter-clockwise and restores it to its original position. Assoon as the finger t'iof the lever til moves alcove the surface of theshoulder d8 of the detent 4d, the detent snaps back to locate theshoulder 38; beneath the finger ll. and detain the lever it in itsnormal position. By thismeans the spring 56 is supplied by power withthe energy for displacing the lever 3 in a forward direction. againstthe resistance of the spring iii when the detent 49 is next tripped.

It should be observed that, although the pull link ll isv initiallyengaged with the finger. '32 of the detent it, as soon as the displacinglever All is released by the shoulder 48, the finger ll. of the lever inforces the pull link 10 downward and causes it to release the finger 12.of the detent 9. The detent 49 is now free to return to detainingposition assoon as the lever 40- has been restored to normal position.This is an important.- point because it insures. against theunintentional double printing of. a letter.

away from detaining position until the release of the associated key bythe typist, and the typist would be very likely to delay the release ofa key at times, and thereby produce the unwanted double printing of aletter.

By temporarily breaking the connection between a pull link 10 and thedetent 49, assurance is provided that the displacing lever 40, whenrestored to normal position, will be retained in that position, and thatthe associated operating lever 3 will resume, and remain in, itsrearward, inefiective position until the pull link notch, H, has beenreengaged with the finger 12.

A machine constructed and arranged as described is adapted to be usedeither for automatic typewriting under the control of the record tape orfor power typewriting under the control of the keyboard as desired. Theutility of the invention is not, however, confined to typewriters whichinclude the tape control feature. The invention may be employed toadvantage for keyboard controlled power typing whether or not the tapecontrol mechanism is present in the machine.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiment of myinvention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodimentshown, but what I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a power operated typewriter, the combination with several keys andtype bars, of a reciprocating power operated actuator, operating leversconnected to operate the respective type bars, and having powertransmitting parts engageable by the actuator, springs urging therespective power transmitting parts to their normal, inactive positions,displacing levers operable to shift the respective power transmittingparts into positions to be engaged and operated by the actuator,displacing springs for the respective displacing levers, detents for therespective displacing levers holding them normally in retracted,inefiective positions against the force of their displacing springs,springs urging the respective detents toward their detaining positions,key operated trippers for the detents including rockable pull linksnormally operatively engaged with the detents but disengageabletherefrom in response to displacing movement of the respectivedisplacing levers so that each detent may be restored to its normal,detaining position in advance of restoration of the associated key, andcam means operated by each operating lever as an incident of-the poweroperation of the operating lever for returning a tripped displacinglever to its normal, detained position, and for reloading its displacingspring.

2. In a power operated typewriter, the combination with the several keysand type bars, of a reciprocating power operated actuator, displaceableoperating levers connected to operate the respective type bars, springsurging the respective operating levers to their normal, inactivepositions, displacing levers operable upon the respective operatinglevers to shift the operating levers into positions to be engaged andoperated by the actuator, displacing springs for the respectivedisplacing levers, detents for the respective displacing levers holdingthem normally in retracted, ineiiective positions against the force oftheir displacing springs, springs urging the respective detents towardtheir detaining position, key operated trippers for the detentsincluding rockable pull links normally operatively engaged with thedetents but disengageable therefrom in response to displacing movementof the respective displacing levers so that each detent may be restoredto its normal, detaining position in advance or" restoration of theassociated key, and cooperating cam means on the associated operatingand displacing levers for returning a tripped displacing lever to itsnormal, detained position, and for reloading its displacing spring as anincident of the power operation of the operating lever.

3. In a power operated typewriter, the com bination with the severalkeys and type bars, of a reciprocating power operated actuator,displaceable operating levers connected to operate the respective typebars, springs urging the respective operating levers to their normal,inactive positions, displacing levers operable upon the respectiveoperating levers to shift the operating levers into positions to beengaged and operated by the actuator, displacing springs for therespective displacing levers, detents for. the respective displacinglevers holding them normally in retracted, ineffective positions againstthe force of their displacing springs, key operated trippers for thedetents, and cooperating cam formations on the associated operating anddisplacing levers for returning a tripped displacing lever to its normaldetained position, and for reloading its displacing spring as anincident of the power operation of the operating lever, each of saidtrippers including a pivoted pull link normally spring held in operativeengagement with the associated detent but disposed to be disengagedtherefrom by a tripped displacing lever so as not to delay therestoration of the detent to detaining position.

4. In a power operated typewriter, the combination with the several keysand type bars, of a reciprocating power operated actuator, displaceableoperating levers connected to operate the respective type bars, springsurging the respective operating levers to their normal, inactivepositions, displacing levers operable upon the respective operatinglevers to shift the operating levers into positions to be engaged andoperated by the actuator, displacing springs for the respectivedisplacing levers, detents for the respec tive displacing levers holdingthem normally in retracted, ineii'ective positions against the force oftheir displacing springs, key operated trippers for the detents, andcooperating cam formations on the associated operating and displacinglevers for returning a tripped displacing lever to its normal detainedposition, and for reloading its displacing spring as an incident of thepower operation of the operating lever, each of said trippers includinga pivoted pull link normally spring held in operative engagement withthe associated detent but disposed to be disengaged therefrom by atripped displacing lever so as not to delay the restoration of thedetent to detaining position, the pull link being adapted to return tooperative engagement with the detent upon release of the operated key,after the detent has been restored to its detaining position.

5. In a power operated typewriter, having a set of keys and type bars, areciprocating power operated actuator, displaceable operating leversconnected to operate the respective type bars, and springs urging therespective operating levers to their normal inactive positions, incombination, displacing levers operable upon the respective operatinglevers to shift the operating levers into positions to be engaged andoperated by the actuator during manual typing, displacing springs forthe respective displacing levers, detents for the respective displacinglevers holding them normally in retracted, ineffective positions againstthe force of their displacing springs, springs urging the respectivedetents toward their detaining positions, key operated trippers for thedetents including rockable pull links normally operatively engaged withthe detents but disengageable therefrom in response to displacingmovement of the respective displacing levers so that each detent may berestored to its normal, detaining position in advance of restoration ofthe associated key, and cooperating cam formations on the associatedoperating and displacing levers for returning a tripped displacing leverto its normal detained position, and for reloading its displacingspring, as an incident of the power operation of the operating lever.

6. In a power operated typewriter, the combination with a key and typebar, of a reciprocating power operated actuator, a displaceableoperating member connected to operate the type bar, a spring urging theoperating member to a normal, inactive position, a displacing leveroperable upon the operating member to shift the operating member intoposition to be engaged and operated by the actuator, a displacing springfor the displacing lever, a detent for the displacing lever holding itnormally in retracted, ineffective position against the forceof itsdisplacing spring,

' a spring urging the detent toward its detaining position, a keyoperated tripper for the detent including a rockable pull link normallyoperatively engaged with the detent but disengageable therefrom inresponse to displacing movement of the displacing lever so that thedetent may be restored to its normal, detaining position in advance ofrestoration of the associated key, and cooperating cam formations on theoperating member and the displacing lever for returning the trippeddisplacing lever to its normal detained position, and for reloading thedisplacing spring as an incident of the power operation of the operatingmember by the actuator.

7. In a power operated typewriter, the combination with a key and typebar, of a reciprocating power operated actuator, a displaceableoperating member connected to operate the respective type bar, a springurging the operating member to a normal, inactive position, a displacinglever operable upon the operating member to shift the operating memberinto position to be engaged and operated by the actuator, a displacingspring for the displacing lever, a detent for the displacing leverholding it normally in retracted, ineffective position against the forceof its displacing spring, a key operated tripper for the detent, andcooperating cam formations on the operating member and the displacinglever for returning the tripped displacing lever to its normal detainedposition, and for reloading the displacing spring as an incident of thepower operation of the operating member by the actuator and the tripperincluding means responsive to the displacing lever, temporaril to breakthe operative connection between the tripper and the detent after thedisplacing lever has been released, and means to reestablish suchconnection only after the detent has been restored to detainingposition.

STEPHEN B. PETIT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,206,534 Guthrie Nov. 28, 19161,769,624 Evans July 1, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 335,645Germany of 1921

